I'll tell you 'bout Texas Radio and the Big BeatSoft drivin', slow and mad, like some new language

Now, listen to this, and I'll tell you 'bout the TexasI'll tell you 'bout the Texas RadioI'll tell you 'bout the hopeless nightWandering the Western dreamTell you 'bout the maiden with raw iron soul and Cruel Neutrality

I wanna tell you about Texas Radio and the Big BeatComes out of the Virginia swampsCool and slow with plenty of precisionWith a back beat narrow and hard to master

Some call it heavenly in it's brillianceOthers, mean and ruthful of the Western dreamI love the friends I have gathered together on this thin raftWe have constructed pyramids in honor of our escapingThis is the land where the Pharaoh died

The Negroes in the forest brightly featheredI wanna tell you 'bout Texas Radio and the Big BeatComes out of the Virginia swampsCool and slow with plenty of precisionWith a back beat narrow and hard to master

Some call it heavenly in it's brillianceOthers, mean and ruthful of the Western dreamI love the friends I have gathered together on this thin raftWe have constructed pyramids in honor of our escapingThis is the land where the Pharaoh died

The Negroes in the forest brightly featheredThey are saying, "Forget the night.Live with us in forests of azure.Out here on the perimeter there are no starsOut here we is stoned - immaculate."

Listen to this, and I'll tell you 'bout the heartacheI'll tell you 'bout the heartache and the loss of GodI'll tell you 'bout the hopeless nightThe meager food for souls forgotI'll tell you 'bout the maiden with raw iron soul

I'll tell you thisNo eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn

I'll tell you 'bout Texas Radio and the Big BeatSoft drivin', slow and mad, like some new language

Now, listen to this, and I'll tell you 'bout the TexasI'll tell you 'bout the Texas RadioI'll tell you 'bout the hopeless nightWandering the Western dreamTell you 'bout the maiden with raw iron soul

The networks have called it for Romney in first and Paul in second and Huntsman in third.

Fourth and fifth are too close to call with Santorum and Gingrich battling. Perry was confirmed in sixth or last.

I saw a very interesting observation over on Andrew Sullivan's blog. I know, I know, but please keep reading.

The point was that second place to Romney is important because Republican's tend to nominate the guy who placed second in the previous nominating contest (for example it was Romney in second place last time and McCain placed second in 2000.

That means there is every incentive for Perry and Santorum and Gingrich and Huntsman to fight for that second spot, since this sets that person up for 2016 if Romney loses to Obama.

Of course if they all stay in the race, it's almost impossible for anyone to unseat Romney since conservatives voters are divided.

That means there is every incentive for Perry and Santorum and Gingrich and Huntsman to fight for that second spot, since this sets that person up for 2016 if Romney loses to Obama.

My prediction:

Ron Paul gets second place . Third place goes to "who cares"; they're all losers now and they'll be losers 4 years from now too. Romney wins the nomination. Romney then loses to Obama as tea partiers decline to vote for "Obama Lite" and stay home in droves.

In 2016, the nomination goes to RAND Paul, who is competent, charismatic, a true small-government type, and lacks his father's baggage, placing him in a good position to "inherit" his dad's support and expand it further. The Dems, meanwhile, are faced with a nasty nomination fight because (a) Biden is too old and (b) he's Joe Biden. Paul wins.

"Romney then loses to Obama as tea partiers decline to vote for "Obama Lite" and stay home in droves."

I hope you are kidding, but I don't think you are. This is a slam but I don't care. Tea party folks aren't stupid and realize they aren't going to get EVERYTHING they might want. Perfectionism is a character flaw, revenant. I really hope you are wrong.

Revenant....Ron Paul is crazy, as are his followers. Usually the kids of big names are worst than their parents, but in this case, I like Rand Paul. He has the libertarian smarts of Ron Paul, and none (or little of) of the craziness.

Welcome to Austin. We're glad you're here visiting. Being an Austinite and a U of Texas grad, I enjoy your blogging about Madison - it feels like a frosty mirror image of Austin. BTW - avoid 6th Street unless you're looking to take some high-octane jello shots with young drunks. There are other very nice restaurants and bars west of Congress Ave.

Yeah, they are all just crazy nuts about Romney up there in New Hampshire, a bellweather state if ever there was one. Just crazy for their next-door neighbor Mitt, with an overwhelming 35 percent of the vote!

Can you believe it! 35 PERCENT! Wow. That's more than one-third! Pretty impressive, especially since it was an open primary where non-Republicans could vote.

Tea party folks aren't stupid and realize they aren't going to get EVERYTHING they might want.

Sure. Question, though: which part of Romney DO Tea Partiers want?

Anybody. But. Obama.

No. If the next four years are just going to be more economy-killing regulation, more government growth, bigger deficits, and bigger debts, I would just as soon it happen under a Democrat so people have a harder time blaming the Republican Party's nonexistent commitment to free-market economics for the mess.

If in your travels you happen across the real Rick Perry, will you please return him to the campaign trail?

Perry couldn't see wasting resources on NH and is concentrating on SC. It also looks as if he and the other Conservatives will be on the ballot in VA, after all.

Bender said...

Yeah, they are all just crazy nuts about Romney up there in New Hampshire, a bellweather state if ever there was one. Just crazy for their next-door neighbor Mitt, with an overwhelming 35 percent of the vote!

Can you believe it! 35 PERCENT! Wow. That's more than one-third! Pretty impressive, especially since it was an open primary where non-Republicans could vote.

And if Captain Tin Foil can hold Milton's lead to single digits, it will be another "disappointing, underperforming" show.

PS 51% of Huntsman's supporters in the Granite State say they're satisfied with GodZero.

Revenant....Ron Paul is crazy, as are his followers. Usually the kids of big names are worst than their parents, but in this case, I like Rand Paul. He has the libertarian smarts of Ron Paul, and none (or little of) of the craziness.

I would concur, except for the bit about Ron Paul's followers being crazy.

People who actually care about small government have to support *somebody*, and who else is there? Gingrich? Perry? Bachmann? It is to laugh.

I would also add that on some issues, e.g. the need for defense cuts and an end to military adventurism, Ron Paul is the only candidate who *isn't* crazy. Anyone who thinks we can keep spending at current levels either can't do math or doesn't care about deficits.

Romney: Just Presidential. No candidate in history seemed so Presidential in NH primary. No one.

Paul: Rebel with a cause. No democrat in history was such a rebel. This is the GOP tent.

Newt, Rick, Rick: So scary that I am thinking Friday the 13th.

Jon: What a fake. I just cannot stand his speech, his finger-wagging, his reference to daughters "my girls", etc. Everything about his is fake. This is the vanity candidacy. I thought it was Newt's, but no, it is Huntsman. A vane individual.

Newt has a very very nice voice. He's clearly not a southerner, but he has no harsh edges in his voice. It's always smooth and moves easily from one thing to another.

The reason I have an appreciation for his voice is that when MOTHRA downstairs is raging, I have to put in earplugs. Still I have to listen to something often times, when MOTHRA wakes me up, and one night, I listened to cspan on the radio. Newt was on. CSPAN digs Newt, that much is clear. He was talking to some group of tpers in NH. He's got a nice voice and talks well. I don't listen to his words that much, but he makes no sudden moves.

People who actually care about small government have to support *somebody*, and who else is there? Gingrich? Perry? Bachmann? It is to laugh.

Captain Tin Foil????

It is to go into hysterics so hard your sides ache.

I would also add that on some issues, e.g. the need for defense cuts and an end to military adventurism, Ron Paul is the only candidate who *isn't* crazy. Anyone who thinks we can keep spending at current levels either can't do math or doesn't care about deficits.

We tried Isolationism and you can visit the results at Pearl Harbor and Ground Zero.

As for cutting spending, yeah, entitlements need to be privatized and, done right, defense cuts can make a better defense, but, if the Iranians, aided by their pal, Hugo, slip a nuke into the country and Sacramento or Savannah disappears, President Paul's reaction would be, "We need to be nicer to them" .

"I would just as soon it happen under a Democrat so people have a harder time blaming the Republican Party's ..."

That's how we got where we are - just ask Althouse why she voted for The Golden Child.

I want an intensely conservative President now more than ever, but if Obama get's reelected one of two things will happen, the economy will improve (it will no matter what, eventually) and Obama and his foolish policies will not be seen as the long term disaster they are until far too late, or the economy will not improve and although it will be clear that left politics is responsible, the needs of people will overwhelm their intelligence and they will welcome government help even if it bankrupts us. It's already too late to give the left any more rope - we will all hang together.

Anybody but Obama is right, including Romney if he is the most likey to win, and then a congress to keep him right. It's the only realistic winning strategy for the nation at this point.

In the movie, Clear and Present Danger, Harrison Ford is in South America figuring out the drug dealers. A former US soldier working with new soldiers says: We are shut down. There is no air. Basically, they cannot use radio.

The GOP losers (Newt, Rick, Rick, and Jon) are shut down. They have no where to go. They are finished. Unless GOP voters are fools, they will not humor these losers.

Don't know what to make of it myself. Maybe it's just Reality TV syndrome-- for the sake of ratings, gotta keep the competition suspenseful, keep the audience uncertain about who's going to win in the end. After all, what's "news"? It's a narrative.

Or, the talking heads have their own biases, agendas, allegiances. Althouse noticed the CNN enthusiasm for Huntsman. Maybe some of the FOX pundits favor other candidates too? Maybe it's a little embarrassing that (Todd) Palin's endorsement of Newt meant less than nothing. Haven't been watching any of the MSM news channels myself lately, but I hear (Sara) Palin's been saying sympathetic things about Ron Paul and the Ronulans… which is… odd. Maybe some of those pundits are Perry fans, maybe they're Santorum fans. Maybe they're hoping Obama will be re-elected! Or maybe the Romney Derangement Syndrome reaches even the shores of FOX.

Or, more mildly, maybe they just want to maintain friendly relations with the other candidates, so they'll keep appearing on their shows... and so they spin a little to keep some hope (at least nominally) alive.

In any case, for the supposed "establishment candidate," it doesn't seem like Romney's getting a whole lotta love (or even fair credit for his electoral performance) on FOX. (From what I gather reading others' impressions. I've sworn off TV talking heads these days.)

I've gradually warmed up to the prospect of Romney myself. By now, I'm all in. This whole Bain brouhaha (and learning more about what Romney did there) pretty much sold me.

Yea Romney! Now he can be himself and start his return to the middle. He is the most moderate Republican since Ford. With his easy taking of the nomination, the Tea Party is over. If employment numbers continue in the right direction, President Obama should do just fine against this candidate in the mode of Dole and McCain.

AJ Lynch said...Jeezus Christ - I see I actually agree with Amer Politico!

---------Amazing indeed, and seconded.

************Now on to S Carolina. Besides Romney winning, the other stories are the surprising strength of Ron Paul and the libertarians, and the continued collapse of Gingrich.

Newt goes in with an uber-Zionist sugar daddy, Sheldon Adelson, 3rd richest man in America, funding him. Part of the reason why Newtie is calling the Palestinians "an invented people", calling for naming arch-Neocon John Bolton as Secretary of State, claiming that where Eretz Yisrael is, is "mostly land never settled by anyone.

Is this the year where primary voters toss aside principle in a rush to nominate a more-of-the-same candidate, someone whose policies and positions they have no desire defending, much less promoting, someone that the vast majority do not want, someone who is not even the party's second choice, much less first choice, but someone who has been passed over five times as other frontrunners have come and gone, such nomination being part of some deluded too-smart-by-half "most electable" political calculations that only prove how supremely they deserve to be called the Stupid Party?

People have had six years to get excited about Romney, and they have not. Does anyone really think that he is suddenly going to catch fire then next ten months? People regret voting for him before they even go to the polls.

Sure, with Obama, we will probably see another $6 trillion in added debt over the next four-year term. But at least Romney won't be so bad, we'll see only $4 trillion in added debt over that time. Like Biden has so aptly put it -- BFD.

This is shaping up to be the year where the GOP commits suicide, the year where the party establishment, with the willing assistance of primary voters, ends up giving us the grand choice of either (1) turning around and bending over, or (2) getting on our knees. Great choice there.

Its a recipe for disaster. But it may be just as well. The blood that should have been spilled purging the party of the weak and spineless establishment types that should have happened in 2000 or 2008 will finally come.

Can I just point out that there are two utterly contradictory criticisms of Romney:

One is that he'll be a more of the same, RINO who will continue Obama's failed policies and not take bold action.

Two is that he is a ruthless capitalist who will do whatever it takes to fix a company's problem even if that means breaking that company down and heartlessly firing people in the name of saving the greater organization.

It's rather unlikely that both of these characterizations are true. I think Newt and Romney and Santorum erred greatly in going after Romney's Bain tenure. Not only is it an attack from the left that even Ron Paul has criticized, but it completely undermines the first, Obama-lite argument against Romney.

New Hampshire sucks. My hunch is they secretly feel inferior to Massholes and seek to emulate them indirectly.

No, the problem with NH is that they are a low taxes/small govt. state. It has a sizable shared border with northern MA, and it has cheaper real estate and good schools. As a result there's been a lot of MA flight across the border to live in NH. The transplants have skewed the state politics quite a bit over the last 10-20 years, and the state is getting more purple. They don't see the irony of ruining what attracted them to NH in the first place.

And as someone else noted, it's an open primary. No doubt a lot of MA transplants cross the line to nominate their favorite moderate or at least to vote against the scariest conservative.

We're visiting family in Denver and Austin and seeing America along the way, in traditional American fashion... By car.

------That is how we like to see this beautiful country too. The last big trip was from Salt Late City to Yellowstone and back. We got one speeding ticket and a warning on the way back to SLC airport as we rushed to make it back to our flight. The second cop was nice and cute and he let us off after hearing we're going to be late (and that we didn't realize the speed limit had just gone down).

My brother and his family were visiting from India and we offered to take them on such a road trip to Florida but they didn't understand the charm of it and said no.